Rail for street-railways.



No. 826,265- v PATENTED JULY 17, 1906. J. MoLELL'AN. RAIL FOR STREETRAILWAYS.

APPLIGATION FILED 0GT.26. 1905.

iwziwfln: (75121621272. 6: Jdz/ll ella n.

CB! iflozneza.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAIL FOR STREET-RAILWAYS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 17, 1906.

Application filed October 26, 1905. Serial No. 284,520.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J AGK MoLELLAN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Rails for Street-Railways of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in railsfor street-railways; and the primary object of the invention is toprovide a rail that can be readily reversed, thereby giving the rail atwofold use, which has not been experienced in connection with thepresent type of rails.

My invention is particularly applicable to that type of rails used uponstreet-railways, especially that type of rail used upon curves, theserails being provided with inner flanges.

Instead of providing the rail with a conventional form of base I formthe base of my improved rails similar to the head of the railin otherwords, construct a double-headed rail having an intermediate webportion.

In order that rails constructed in accordance with my invention may befirmly supported upon ties or suitable roadbed, I have provided plateswhich serve functionally as the base of the rails, these platesbeingformed to receive one head of the rail and firmly support it upon atie.

The construction entering into my improved rail and the manner ofsecuring two of the rails together will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, and reference will now be had to the'accomp anying drawings,forming a part of this application, wherein like numerals of referencedesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in whichFigure 1 is a perspective .view of the confronting ends of two sectionsof rails as secured together and mounted upon two ties. Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view of one of my improved rails. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of a base-plate used in connection with the same; andFig. 4 is an end view of a rail used upon curves.

To put my invention into practice, I preferably construct my improvedrails of steel or similar strong and durable metal or material. Eachrail embodies an upper head 1, a lower head 2, and an intermediate webportion 3. The upper head 1 consists of a tread portion 4 and an innerflange portion 5, these portions being integral and forming alongitudinally-disposed groove 6. The lower head 2 is similar to theupper head 1, with the exception that the tread 4 flange 5 and groove 6are reversedthat is, the tread 4 is upon the inner side of the rail,while the flange 5 is upon the outer side, corresponding with the tread4 of the upper head. This arrangement is provided whereby the rail maybe re versed and the lower head2used in lieu of the upper head 1 whenthe same has become worn by constant use. The reversal of the rail shownin Figs. 1 and 2 is accomplished merely by giving the rail a one-halfrevolution on its longitudinal axis.

In order to provide a sound foundation for my improved rails upon tiesor the like road-bed, I employ plates 7 7, these plates being providedwith longitudinally-disposed grooves 8 to accommodate the flange 5 andgrooves 9 to accommodate the tread 4, the formation of said groovesproviding an intermediate rib 10, adapted to engage in the groove 6. Theformation of the grooves 8 and 9 also provide outer ribs or sides 11 11,which embrace the sides of the lower head 2, as clearly illustrated inFig. 2, and prevent lateral displacement of the rails relative to theplates 7 7. Spikes 12 or the like fastening means may be employed forclamping the plates 7 and the rails upon the ties 14 14.

In connection with the rails just described I employ fish-bars 15 15 forclamping the confronting ends of two sections of rails together. Thesefish-bars are of a conventional form, with the exception that they aremade longer to further strengthen the confronting ends of the rails whenthey are secured together. Ordinary nuts and bolts 16 16 may be employedfor clamping the fish-bars to the web portions 3 3 of the rails. I donot care to confine myself to any particular type of fastening means forsecuring the confronting ends of two sections of rails together, neitherdo I care to limit myself to the manner of securing the plates 7 to theties 14 or the road-bed of a railway.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings I have illustrated a rail 17, similar in allrespects to the rails just described, with the exception that this railhas the treads 18 and 19 of the upper and lower heads formed upon thesame side, this also being true of the flanges 21 and 21. This rail isparticularly adapted for use upon curves, it being a well-known factthat the flanges of rails become worn by frictional engagement of theflanges of the wheels bearing against the same, and in the course of ashort time the rails become worn and useless for the purpose for whichthey are intended. Instead of renewing the rails, it is only necessaryto reverse my improved rails when they are used, thereby gainingpractically a new rail, and in this manner the cost of maintenance inconnection with a railway is greatly reduced, the cost of the railsbeing reduced approximately one-half. The rail shown in Fig. 4, which,as above stated, is adapted for use upon curves, is reversed by turningit end for end instead of rotating it on its longitudinal axis, as isthe case with the rail shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This manner of reversingthe rail shown in Fig. 4 is necessary, owing to the curved form of therail.

The simple construction of my improved rails permits of them beingreadily rolled, this also being true of the plates which I employ asbase-plates, these plates being rolled or sheared or cut into thedesired lengths, according to their use.

It will be observed that a plurality of rails can be readily turned atone time, it not being necessary to disconnect the different sections ofrails when performing this operation; but for convenience the joints ofthe rails maybe severed at every six or ten rail lengths, thuspreserving the intermediate joints.

desire again to call attention to the fact that on straight tracks thetreads are diagonally disposed from one another, while on curved tracksthe treads are opposite. In

the turning of the rails the curved rails are turned over and reversedend for end; but with the straight rails it is only necessary to simplyturn therails.

While I have herein described the preferred embodiments of my invention,it is obvious that the same are susceptible to structural change Withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is

The combination with a rail having an upper head comprising a treadportion and flange and an intermediate groove, and a lower headconforming in shape to the upper head, of a base-plate formed with twoparallel grooves conforming in cross-section to the cross-sectionalcontour of the head of the rail. In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in the presence of two witnesses.

' JACK MOLELLAN. Witnesses:

THEO E. KNAPP, CHARLES SCHRAOTLE.

